‘Brave’ Texas father helps thwart possible mass shooting by calling cops on his son

(FORT WORTH, Texas) — A possible mass shooting was thwarted in Texas after a concerned father called police on his son.

Fort Worth officers were able to intercept a 27-year-old man with mental health issues who was searching for a gun.

The incident occurred Sept. 3, and police publicly released details about the incident Monday. It happened exactly one month after 22 people were gunned down at a Walmart about 600 miles away in El Paso, Texas.

Fort Worth Police Department public information officer Buddy Calzada told ABC News that the man, whose name is not being publicly released, was known to police.

“It was reported that he had withdrawn money and stated he was going to buy guns,” Caldaza said of the man.

Police reported that the man was turned down when he tried to buy guns at “several” local stores as a result of background checks.

Members of the police department’s Crisis Intervention Team searched for the suspect and found him in west downtown Fort Worth with $600 to $700 cash, and he “stated he was going to buy a gun off the street.”

“He made multiple statements to officers indicating he was going to harm many people and kill as many as he could,” Caldaza said.

The responding officer, Landon Rollins, said that the man “believed I was trying to kill him right then and there with my mind,” according to a report in The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which Caldaza confirmed.

The man was apprehended and transported to a local mental health facility, where he currently remains. He’s not currently facing charges, and his release date from the mental health facility hasn’t been determined.

Caldaza said he believes the man’s father saved lives.

“He’s extremely brave,” Caldaza said of the father, whose name also hasn’t been released. “It’s hard. I’m a father myself, and it’s hard for me to discipline my kids and put them in check, and if I had to call and ask someone else to do it, that would make it even tougher.”